GB Men Lose, but Earn Rival's Praise

A STRONG second half performance and six goals from Steven Larsson was not enough for Great Britain Men, who lost out 37-22 to Austria in the first leg of their 2013 World Championship qualifying matches on Thursday.

The hosts in Tulln proved too strong for Great Britain in the first half and quickly opened up a big lead, and although GB battled back with good periods of play which showed glimpses of their promise, they could not challenge Austria’s lead.

Battling GB’s performance earned the praise of Austria captain Viktor Szilagyi, who said afterwards: “Great Britain is physically strong, and we had to have respect for them.”

Great Britain will now travel to London to prepare for Sunday’s return leg at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre (2pm start).

A few tickets are left for the clash, which will give British handball fans a rare chance to see the GB team in action ahead of the 2012 Olympics later this year.

Austria – who reached the finals of the 2011 World Championships in Sweden last year - will bring another full-strength team to London in a bid to progress to the play-offs and ultimately the finals in Spain in 2013.